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Two Crucial Ways to Fight Clutter, and Why You Should

The book or the stapler I couldn’t find, or the pile of papers that was in my way. But worst of all, by tasks I’d been procrastinating.

While worrying about clutter might seem like a fairly frivolous preoccupation, I’ve found that clearing away the mess—both physical (closets, countertops) and mental (answering difficult emails)—makes it easier for me to stay calm and cheerful.

Two anti-clutter rules have made a huge difference to the level of chaos in my house:

 The one-minute rule: perform any task that can be completed in less than one minute. Hang up a coat, read a letter and toss it, put a document in a file, put the toothpaste back in the medicine cabinet and close the door.

 The evening tidy-up: take time before bed to put things away.

Now that I’ve cleared a lot of that away, I feel happier.

And creating order doesn’t just remove a source of unhappiness; it creates a charge of energy and satisfaction. The closet that was an eyesore is now a joy; the stack of papers, slowly yellowing on the edge of the desk, is replaced by a clear surface.

2 thoughts on “Two Crucial Ways to Fight Clutter, and Why You Should”

I absolutely LOVE your one-minute rule! I thought about it as I was jotting down a phone number on yet another scrap of paper – "this only takes a minute, I'll do it now!"
Dreading those small, annoying tasks is always worse than actually doing them.